AEG Live, one of the globe's largest concert promoters, is set to win a contract to take over management of the Landmark Loew's Jersey Theatre in Jersey City, and the firm pledges to bring "top talent" to the Journal Square theater.

A city official said AEG offered "far and away" the largest bid to run the venue, saying it would pay $350,000 annually to rent the city-owned theater for 30 years and contribute $3.5 million toward renovation of the 85-year-old former movie palace.

The deal is set to be finalized at a special meeting of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency on Tuesday, the anniversary of Mayor Steve Fulop's first year in office.

Mark Shulman, AEG's vice president and general manager, said the firm hopes to make the Loew's "a hub for the entire area." Programming should begin in late 2015, after renovations are complete, according to Schulman.

The city expects it will cost more than $30 million to renovate the Loew's, a sum the city plans to pay for with a mixture of private donations, grants, bonding and tax credits. A city official told The Jersey Journal AEG's proposed lease payments would cover the cost of any amount taxpayers will have to borrow.

Fulop called AEG's proposal "a significant financial commitment.

"The city will stop losing money on the Loew's and the city will 100 percent retain ownership of the Loew's," Fulop told The Jersey Journal. "This is just an important step in bringing back Journal Square as the heart of the city"

AEG, which will partner with New Jersey City University and Mana Contemporary to offer 40 community events annually, was competing with Live Nation, Ace Theatrical Group and local firm Catch a Rising Star.

Ace is set to win the bid to renovate the Loew's.

By picking an outside management firm, the city is booting out Friends of the Loew's (FOL), a local nonprofit that has managed the theater since at least 2004. The group helped save the Loew's from a wrecking ball in 1995.

Colin Egan, who runs FOL, said the city is making a poor decision bringing in AEG."At best, it'll be a commercial concert venue, not an arts center," Egan said.

FOL sued Jersey City after Fulop announced he wanted a new management firm to take over, with FOL claiming it has a lease making it the theater's managers. Earlier this month, a judge sided with Jersey City, which said there is no current lease.

Egan said FOL will appeal.

Mana Contemporary is part of the Moishe Mana empire. Companies controlled by Mana donated at least $2,125 in 2010 and 2011 to Fulop's mayoral bid.

An earlier version of this story contained a misspelling of Shulman's name.